Heel-pocket.



L J. ALLEN.

HEEL POCKET.

APPLICATION 4MLPD MAY e, 191'4.

Patenfe 23, 1915.

JOSEPH J. ALLEN, 0F SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

HEEL-POCKET.

i Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. l

Application ii1ed May 6, 1914. Serial No. 836,618.

T0 all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of vSouth Orange, in the county o'f Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in HeelvPockets, of which the following is a speciused and worn for the forward part of the foot; to provide a heel pocket which can be slipped on and olf like a sandal or foothold; to provide means for securing the pocket in place; to reinforce the front or free end of said pocket; to provide a reinforcement" which will yield or elongate somewhat; to embed the reinforcement in the material of whichvthe pocket is composed; to obtain a irm connection'between v"said material and the reinforcement; to secure simplicity of construction, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be'brought out in the followingdescription.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich like numerals of reference indicate 'the same parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 1s a side elevation of a .shoe and overshoe to which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of my im proved heel pocket on line A-A of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of certa-in reinforcement shown dotted in Fig. 1,; Fig. 4 is an edge view of a portion of the same; Fig. 5 is a v-iew similar to Fig. 1,A

showing a modified construction of my heel pocket, and Fig. 6 is a section on line thereof.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the reference numeral l indicatesv an overshoe over the heel end of which is held my improved` heel pocket 2. Said pocket preferably follows the shape and cortour of the heel end of the overshoe so as to Aftit snugly thereon, andy isxtherefore. formed with a counter'B of a height substantially that of the overshoe and has atits bottom a heel depression 4 adapted to"reeeive,;and surround the heel of the overshoe. Thejeiids i of the counter 3 preferably extend fon-i wardly somewhat beyond the heel'depression, as at .5, and arev joined at the bottoni; providing a sole portion 6. It will-beun-v derstood that this sole portion is integral with both the counters 3 and the heel-fdc?? y' i pression 4 and is adaptedto [it "upeun'der `l`e5V the arch of the overshoe soas to beebove i" the bottom of the heel, and thus elevated from the pavement or the like when .inf,\u,se,`

Joining the tops of the ends ofjftl counter is. a strap 7 preferably v ulcaniie` or otherwise secured to the countiiandhektending upwardly forming at its zfrontedge a. continuation o't' the front edgejfgithe counter. This strap is made and' 'adapted t" I extend over the instep of the usersfoh Y f I holding the heel pocket in posit'ionfz-iliid i' preferably overlaps the usual storm "tongue,t H forming part of the overshoe ln the use of my improved heel: pock""t it will be seen that the strap' and the. i odge ot' the counter are subject. fb; a stiffe ing tendency and l preferably rei-infor i these parts to prevent breakage andyet mit sufficient stretching for applying holding the device in place. To tli'istridi-' I preferably vulcanize a reinforcementi within the front portions or ends''of the counter andthe front portioiroiithes'o'le7 (i. extending around the same in` Uasha-pe Wi'tlif its end continulng upward and vulcaiigrlgo in the strap 7. In this manner a reinforcement is effected which will also preventitl'refV strap from being readily torn fro'xr'iy'the"` counter. The reinforcement which I 'pre-' fer to employ comprises a cable wire or wire having a plurality of strands, this.;y`v`v ire being formed into a plurality 'of loop $0... throughout its length. The speciic manner Y whereby these loops are obtained 4in the present instance is by doublingthe wire in! termediate of its end as at 1L and twistingl the two portions together at a shortdistancefrom the double or bend 11, as at 12. Then beyond the twist 12 the two portions of wire are spread away from .each other forming another loop, vthe wire coming together n'd being twisted as beforev at the bottom of the loop, and so on.. In vulcaniziirgthis wire reinforce-ment in Yplace, \the rubber: joinsj removed or applied at a are made as flat in the plane of ythe loops as possible and may be hammered or pressed for this purpose.

the front edge of the counter is subjected to a stretching tendenc the loops 10 will elongate and allow the rugber to stretch moderately. However, the stretch which this reinforcement will admit is sufficiently limited that the rubber will not be subjected to n. strain exceeding the elastic limit of the material and thus tear, nor wiil the upper edge of the counter be pulled upward to such an extent as to be unsightly. Furthermore, the reinforcement is flat enough so as to add no material thickness to the edge of the counter and being made from cable wire the rubber will obtain a firm grip upon the reinforcement so that the counter and the rein, forcement unite as a substantially integral unit.

It will be understood that my improved heel pocket can be worn by itself, or it can be worn in conjunction with a foothold or sandal to also protect the heels; or it can/be worn outside of a rubber or overshoe whose heel has become so worn as to afford suflicient protection, thus supplementing the partially worncnt rubber or overshoe and making it as good as new. l

The heel pocket may be slipped on and taken off independentof the overshoe, that is, the overshoe may be left on the wearers foot and the heel pocket applied or removed as desired. But it will-be obvious that the ocket may be left upon the overshoe and t e overshoe put on or taken oil' without disturbing the Egel pocket therefrom. The overshoe and h l pocket are more readily single operation by the strap fextending over the tongue 8 of thelovers ipe .although should the tongue 8 be omitte the simultaneous removal or applicati-o'n of the device with the overshoe I `couldstill be effected.

` shoe in such manner nder some circumstances it may be dcsirable to unite the heel pocket with the overthat the heel pocket necessarily remains upon the overshoe at all times. This end may be accomplished in various ways, one of which is shown in Figs.' 5 and 6 wherein a heel pocket 13 is shown secured to'an overshoe 14. The heel pocket may be cemented in place upon the. overshoe and indeed it is preferable to cement the edges of the heel pocket inv place even if no other parts are cemented. As a further means of securing the pocket to the over shoe, I have shown rivets or fasteners 15I of any suitable construction at intervals along the edges of the pocket. Furthermore, greater strength and increased attractiveness is obtained by doubling the upper edge of the pocket over the upperedge of the overshoe, as at 16, and I prefer to have the rivets or fasteners 15 extend through this turned over edge 16 as w-ell as through the outer or exposed portion of the pocket and the overshoe.

With the heel pocket thus held upon the overshoe, it is not essential that a strap extend over the tongue of the overshoe and I have accordingly not shown any strap in connection with this modified construction. However, I deem it important to reinforce the front edge of the pocket as in the previous case, with a wire reinforcement 17. Preferably the rivets or fasteners 15 along this front edge of the pocket pass through the loops of the reinforcement, so that the reinforcement will be riveted to the overshoe and thus more positively secure the edge of the heel pocket thereto.

Obviously detail modifications may be made in manufacturing my improved heel pocket without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself except as required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention what I claim is,

1, In a heel pocket, the combination with a body portion arranged to receive the heel of a shoe and being open at its front with upwardly projecting side walls, of a strap extending along the front end margin of Said side walls upwardly therebcyond in a closed loop and adapted to reinforce the ends of said side walls.

2. A heel pocket comprising a counter having a heel depression integral therewith, said counter having ends extending in front of said heel depression, a solo portion joining the bottomsof the extending ends and the heel depression, a reinforcement extending through the front marginal edges of the extending edges of the counter and the sole portion, and means for retaining said hee pocket in position on a wcarers foot.

3. A heel pocket comprising in combination with means for surrounding the heel portion of an overshoe, a reinforcement comprising a series of loops adapted to be in# closed by the material comprising the heel pocket Hatwise thereof admitting a limited stretch of said material by virtue of the elongation of said loops.

JOSEPH J. ALLEN. 

